Karen Daskawicz
2016-03-06 14:11:29 UTC
I have a morbid fascination with Mormons. Perhaps it is because I grew up
in the Rochester, NY area -- very close to where Mormons got their start
near Palmyra, NY. Thus, as junior high students, we learned the basics of
Mormon history and belief as part of local history. That was in the
unenlightened time when schools could not only teach *about* religions, but
students from schools (grammar through high school) were given time off
from school on Tuesday afternoons to attend religious instruction at local
Catholic churches / schools. (I was enrolled but when, in junior high, I
realized that no one at the Catholic school was taking attendance and
cross-checking, I just left school and went home early instead.)
Anyway, for anyone interested in Mormon history, I recommend the book *Under
the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith* by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer
originally set out to write a book about general religious fundamentalism,
but when he started researching those wacky Mormons, he decided to focus
solely on them.
From our friends at amazon.com:
Jon Krakauers literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives
conducted at the outer limits. He now shifts his focus from extremes of
physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders,
taking readers inside isolated American communities where some 40,000
Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. Defying both civil
authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade
leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to
God.
At the core of Krakauers book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who
insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and
her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this
appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling
narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding
faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of Americas fastest
growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of
religious belief.
http://www.amazon.com/Under-Banner-Heaven-Story-Violent/dp/1400032806
-KD
in the Rochester, NY area -- very close to where Mormons got their start
near Palmyra, NY. Thus, as junior high students, we learned the basics of
Mormon history and belief as part of local history. That was in the
unenlightened time when schools could not only teach *about* religions, but
students from schools (grammar through high school) were given time off
from school on Tuesday afternoons to attend religious instruction at local
Catholic churches / schools. (I was enrolled but when, in junior high, I
realized that no one at the Catholic school was taking attendance and
cross-checking, I just left school and went home early instead.)
Anyway, for anyone interested in Mormon history, I recommend the book *Under
the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith* by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer
originally set out to write a book about general religious fundamentalism,
but when he started researching those wacky Mormons, he decided to focus
solely on them.
From our friends at amazon.com:
Jon Krakauers literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives
conducted at the outer limits. He now shifts his focus from extremes of
physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders,
taking readers inside isolated American communities where some 40,000
Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. Defying both civil
authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade
leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to
God.
At the core of Krakauers book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who
insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and
her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this
appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling
narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding
faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of Americas fastest
growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of
religious belief.
http://www.amazon.com/Under-Banner-Heaven-Story-Violent/dp/1400032806
-KD
Mormons are basicalky Christians, and the basic teachings are highly
recommended.
Its all lthe trappings they have added on thatmwe find oded. And theyre
far from alone in that. Which is sillier ,symbols your underwear or
getting dunked in a big bathtub behind the choir loft. Group marriage,
banning contraception or having to wear a scarf on your head everywhere you
go? (All of those,have a sound social basis, but Jesus never said anything
about them.)
written) but I have had personal experience with Mormons at a time of
crisis and found the ones I dealt with to be exceptional, kind and
dedicated people (who did not, to their credit, attempt to push their
beliefs on me). I owe them a considerable debt of gratitude.
Bill Steele
Valentine's Day can be traced to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a time
of lovemaking and licentiousness. Young Roman males would sacrifice goats,
run around in goat loincloths, and strike young females with thongs from
the same goatskins in a rite intended to eliminate feminine barrenness and
awaken the powers of fertility.
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Skeptix mailing list
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recommended.
Its all lthe trappings they have added on thatmwe find oded. And theyre
far from alone in that. Which is sillier ,symbols your underwear or
getting dunked in a big bathtub behind the choir loft. Group marriage,
banning contraception or having to wear a scarf on your head everywhere you
go? (All of those,have a sound social basis, but Jesus never said anything
about them.)
Say what you like (Salt Lake City is a very strange place, and The Book
of Mormon may be one of the most unintentionally hilarious books everwritten) but I have had personal experience with Mormons at a time of
crisis and found the ones I dealt with to be exceptional, kind and
dedicated people (who did not, to their credit, attempt to push their
beliefs on me). I owe them a considerable debt of gratitude.
Bill Steele
Valentine's Day can be traced to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a time
of lovemaking and licentiousness. Young Roman males would sacrifice goats,
run around in goat loincloths, and strike young females with thongs from
the same goatskins in a rite intended to eliminate feminine barrenness and
awaken the powers of fertility.
_______________________________________________
Skeptix mailing list
http://lists.opn.org/mailman/listinfo/skeptix_lists.opn.org